High school baseball: Krumrie big for Buchanan

The senior hit three home runs over the left-field fence to give Buchanan a come-from-behind 10-4 victory over Bridgman.

“It was exciting,” Krumrie said. “I had a rough first game. I was 1-for-6 and had three or four strikeouts. I just cleared my mind for the second game and got ready to hit.”

“It was quite fun to witness,” said Buchanan coach Eric Henckel. “It is easy to coach when you have a player that gets three dingers in a game.”

Krumrie’s third home run, a two-run blast, produced the winning runs in Buchanan’s seven-run sixth inning. The Bucks were down 4-1 early and trailed 4-3 entering the decisive sixth inning.

Krumrie had solo shots in the first and fourth innings and has six home runs this season.

“Krumrie is a great player, and he came through,” said Bridgman coach Dale Beeney. “It was not like I could walk him (in the sixth) and put the lead run on first and the tying run on second. We had to pitch to him.”

Krumrie, who is hitting just above .300 for the season, has found his power swing late in the season.

“He tore up Brandywine in the last game of our regular season with two home runs,” said Henckel.

Krumrie helped Buchanan win its first district crown since 2010. The Bucks play in the regional Saturday at Bronson.

Buchanan (20-10) advanced to the championship game with a 5-2 victory over Brandywine in 12 innings in Saturday’s semifinals.

Bridgman (19-11) reached the finals with a 7-4 semifinal victory over Cassopolis.

Buchanan had six hits in the decisive sixth inning of the championship contest. A walk and a Bridgman error also contributed.

In addition to Krumrie’s third home run, Buchanan had a double by winning pitcher Dalton Shearer and singles from Nate Henckel, Nick Troxel, Alex Leiter and Jeff Mucha.

“We just executed,” noted Henckel.

Buchanan beat Bridgman after losing to the Bees twice during the regular Lakeland Conference season.

Buchanan finished with nine hits, with Mucha also having a double.

Bridgman had eight hits. Brock Belanger contributed a home run and a single, Brady Wasko a double and Matt Hendricks and Austin Allwood two singles each.

Krumrie’s RBI bunt single down the first-base line produced the winning run. The Bucks also scored in the 12th on an RBI single by Troxel and a sacrifice fly from Shearer, who got the pitching victory in relief.

Buchanan finished with 11 hits. Mucha had a double and Justin Henderson, Troxel and Shearer two singles apiece.

Brandywine had six hits, including two singles each by Buck Bourdon and Austin Searles.

Semifinals

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Justin Henderson, Shearer (WP)

Alex Erwin, Kyle Duncan (LP)

2B: Mucha (Bu)

Bridgman 7, Cassopolis 4: Bridgman won with the help of a three-run home run by Brock Belanger in the second inning and a two-run homer by Adam McLean in the fifth. Winning pitcher Tyler Gnodtke added a double.

Cassopolis had Dwayne Morgan with a home run and Lance Sheteron with two singles.